LME clearing house unveils reforms, to triple member capital requirements
The London Metal Exchange’s clearing house proposed reforms on Thursday to boost stability including tripling the capital requirements for members.
The exchange, the world’s oldest and largest market for industrial metals, also said in a statement that LME Clear would reduce the amount members have to contribute towards its default fund.
“These are the latest set of proposals designed to increase transparency, predictability and overall resilience for clearing members and market participants more broadly,” said LME Clear CEO Michael Carty.
A consultation will be held until Dec. 16 on the proposals, which would boost the minimum net capital requirement for members to $30 million from $10 million.
“This proposal… (would) reassure market stakeholders of the resilience of LME Clear markets,” the statement said.
LME Clear would move towards a so-called “defaulter pays” model and introduce an upper limit to its default fund, which would restrict the amount paid by clearing members, it added.
The clearing house also plans to introduce new methodology to limit the percentage by which the default fund can fall in any one re-calculation, making contributions more stable.
In March 2022, the LME said it had to cancel $12 billion in nickel trades when prices skyrocketed because a record $20 billion in margin calls could have led to at least seven clearing members defaulting.
The LME is owned by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd.